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Racket producers in Klayatan village, Malang, have called on the central government to include badminton in the school curriculum in a bid to help maintain the industry.

Despite positive impacts from various badminton tournaments, their business fluctuated because after the tournaments business usually slowed down again.

"Including badminton in school curriculums would guarantee work for racket makers and thousands of people here, because orders for rackets could be guaranteed," Iwan, the producer of Butterfly brand badminton rackets, said recently.

Another producer, Dadang Prayoga, 39, producer of Aero and Atlanta brand rackets, shared a similar opinion.

"Such a move *to put badminton in the national curriculum* could also net new badminton talents in Indonesia," said Dadang, who supplies products to various cities including Surabaya, Surakarta, Jakarta and Medan.

"Many people would benefit if the government included badminton in the national education curriculum, as it could minimize unemployment because each producer would employ an average of 10 workers, so 150 producers would hire at least 1,500 workers," he said.

"The government should be concerned and pay attention to the fate of racket producers here, because many people depend on this industry," Dadang said.

Klayatan is home to around 150 cottage industries producing badminton rackets.

Of these, around one-fifth are seasonal producers. The more orders that are placed, the more producers would operate, but when orders drop, the seasonal producers prefer to stop operating.

In 2008 the domestic badminton racket industry was badly hit by an influx of imports of Chinese-made rackets, but the government was quick to provide protection by slapping huge import taxes on such products.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia rode on their victories in the singles matches and went on to dethrone China as the mixed team champions of the Asian junior championships at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here yesterday.

Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Tee Jing Yi rose to the occasion to win the boys’ and girls’ singles matches respectively to pave the way for the boys’ doubles of Goh Jian Hao-Pang Zheng Lin to seal the final tie at 3-1.

In the battle that lasted for almost three hours, Malaysia had lost the opening mixed doubles match.

It was the second time that Malaysia clinched the mixed team title after 2007. For the Chinese juniors, the defeat was a big blow, especially when they had their national senior team’s chief coach Li Yongbo watching them in action yesterday.

The hope was on winning all three doubles matches but Iskandar and Jing Yi showed the Malaysian strength in the singles too.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- World number one and Malaysia's top men's singles shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei will be hoping to set the records straight against Lin Dan of China when both head to Hyderabad, India for the World Championships in August.

Chong Wei who beat Lin Dan, the world number two, at the Swiss Open to gain some consolation for his loses at the Beijing Olympics final and All England final, is currently in his best form ever, after clinching the Singapore Open, Indonesian Open and Malaysian Open on a trot.

However, Chong Wei knows pretty well that the World Championships will be different ball game altogether, especially his two previous disappointing outings in Los Angeles (2005), Madrid (2006) and Kuala Lumpur (2007).

Chong Wei who despite not having fully recovered from a back injury, had already started training two weeks ago under his coach Datuk Misbun Sidek.

"The training this time is very tough but I am not complaining as I know what Misbun is doing will help me," Chong Wei told reporters here Tuesday.

Despite having tasted success in numerous tournaments, Chong Wei, a silver medallist at the Olympics, has yet to step foot in a final of the World Championships, let alone win one.

Meanwhile, Chong Wei who has been appointed the brand ambassador for 100 Plus, is expected to conduct a number of badminton clinics in Johor, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.

Chong Wei said despite a tight training schedule, he had decided to spend some time to help young aspiring players to learn the basics of badminton through the clinics.

"I and Misbun are involved in the programme that is aimed at promoting and developing badminton in the country," he said.

And Malaysia and Japan have set up an intriguing semi-final clash today in the mixed team competition of the Asian junior badminton championships after winning their quarter-final ties in contrasting fashions at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara here yesterday.

Third seeds Malaysia lived up to the expectations and defeated Hong Kong 3-0 to advance.